A sannyasi is one who clearly sees that everything is changing all the time, and everything is beautiful just the way it is. He also knows that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. That is why he sets out first to clean his eyes. Eyes are the windows of the soul, so his work is at the core level. If you see the world through a red colored lens, everything appears red. If you see with a green colored lens, everything is green. If you see with clear eyes, everything looks clear and beautiful. Existence has always been beautiful, but we missed seeing it. Sannyas is the decision to see with clear eyes.

If life itself is changing all the time, then why are we trying to frame it? Buddha says in his Dhammapada, ‘Life is like a flash of lightning in the sky.’ Life is transient. Then what are we trying to do? We are trying to do an impossible job. Our job is to see, enjoy, and move on. If everything is a passing manifestation of Existence, then where is the scope for ego or fear or greed? Sannyas, as such, doesn’t change anything. Everything remains the same. But it changes the way you see things. Sannyas happens in you. Sannyas has nothing to do with the outer world.

A small story:

Once a spiritual teacher came to visit the king. Nobody stopped the teacher and he entered the court where the king was sitting on his throne.

The king asked him, ‘What do you want? The teacher replied, ‘I would like to have a place to sleep in this hotel.’

The king said, ‘This is my palace, it is not a hotel.’ The teacher asked him, ‘Who owned this palace before you?’

The king replied, ‘My father owned this palace, but now he is dead.’ The teacher asked, ‘Who owned it before him?’

The king replied, ‘My grandfather. He, too, is dead.’ The teacher said, ‘This is a place where people live for a short time and move on. Yet you are saying this is not a hotel!’

Sannyas is awakening the charioteer. Man’s body is like a chariot and his consciousness is the charioteer. The charioteer is fast asleep, and the chariot is moving according to the horses. The five horses are the five senses, each with its own different idea. Not one of them is the truth. They are just transient ideas!

Even in the most difficult times, a sannyasi remains with the awareness that life is a fleeting dream. He carries a completely different definition for success and failure. He doesn’t carry success or failure itself. A samsari on the other hand carries success and failure with him wherever he goes. There starts the problem.

source: Living Enlightenment